Korean Heroes and Heroines of the Year 1990; segment 5

by Wiam Najjar, May 20, 2016

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Last time we shed the light on the Korean president at the time. Let's refer to sports in South Korea in the year when our stars where born. In 1990, the Korean League consisted of 6 football teams. Lucky-Goldstar Hwangso (which is now known as FC Seoul) won the league. FC Seoul is one of the most popular and successful football teams in South Korea up till now. In the same year, the 1990 Dynasty Cup was held in China. China PR, Japan, South Korea and North Korea participated. South Korea went home victorious. The year was concluded with the shock of an all-defeat world cup visit.

Kim So Young (Oct 15th)

I only watched this cutie in Temptation (if we're to exclude her child role in Jewel in the Palace though it was so cute and so well-acted). Well, I do have most of her works on my PTW but you know how that one works! Temptation was for me a drastic and total disappointment. But she along with Lee Jung Shin helped me through it. I saw a talent in her and profound beauty. I liked her so much I memorised her name. I’ll keep her under my HUGE radar.

Son Seung Won (Jun 29th)

People don’t ‘’usually’’ excel when they play young versions of characters and rarely outperform their older versions. I’m referring here, as you know, to Healer. I’m not implying that Son Seung Won outdid Park Sang Won! Who am I to judge that?! Never! But what I’m saying is that we would not be able to uncover and understand the depth of Park Sang Won’s character without the commendable acting of young Son Seung Won. He was so good. So damn good.

So when I saw him in I Remember You I was cock-a-hoop and everything and then stumbled upon his almost non-existent role at the beginning. I was like: I WANT A PSYCHOPATH ROLE FOR THE BOY! He didn't grant me my wish but he didn't disappoint as the drama finished. Can't wait for his future works.

Thunder (Oct 7th)

What I know about Thunder:

1) he’s so clueless and therefore so cute on variety shows.

2) he has such an amazing voice. Just check this out:

3) he made me cry when he left MBLAQ.

In Make a Woman Cry he wasn’t bad at all, but I didn’t see the reason why he would quit the band for acting. He’s not Lee Joon who obviously is a bundle of acting talent that cannot all pour out. I hope I’m mistaken and I do wish he proves me wrong.

Park Shin Hye (Feb 18)

Shin Hye might be the most popular actress in this series. She has such a huge fan base all over the world. Do I like her? Mmm, I’m never sure. I know she’s talented and she is good at what she does, but the thing is she’s been acting the same role all over again for the past ten years. Look back at her roles! What has changed since Tree of Heaven? Nothing! It’s a chain of Bildungsroman stories. A girl from a challenging background (poor/disintegrated/dead parents) seeking her self-realisation mostly through love. The girl suffers many obstacles and heartbreaks on the way to her epiphany. An ending that doesn’t satisfy the audience. And here I don’t mean marriage-happy-ever-after-waiting-for-the-guy-home kind of ending and you know what I’m alluding to. Challenging and hard characters? Never! I’m eager to watch her in such a role. Maybe Doctors will be one. With Kim Rae Won as her co-star she might shine so brightly she'll blind me with love and admiration? Amen. No more getting the handsome guy at the end after 10000 guys fought over her and after she overcame all the social, political and material circumstances for the sake of love, please. It’s time that she took a new turn in her career, don’t you think?

Shin Se Kyung (July 29)

One more really popular girl. Who bets she got into acting because of her looks? I do! We passed the first stage and waited for the acting part. Did it ever come? Well, recently. And not everybody can see that. She’s improved. That she did. But by improvement it’s not like the huge shift Kang So Ra took, for example. No. We talk here about snail steps. One step each 3 years or something. She was wooden at the beginning. Extremely wooden. Like they were shooting with a mannequin! I can mention R2B: Return to Base, High Kick Through the Roof!, and though I didn’t watch them, I watched clips and asked fans and they added Fashion King and When A Man's in Love. Let me make this clear before I continue. Shin Se Kyung didn’t bother me—much. My first drama by her was A Tree With Deep Roots which was my first sageuk, which means I absolutely loved everything and everyone there. So even after I almost died in the other two I still didn’t dislike her. In Queen Seon Duk she did okay and in Blade Man too (before the writer exchanged spirits with someone else). In The Girl Who Sees Scents she was for the first time admirable. And for me more than that. I liked her there. And she made me cry at moments. Not a jump in her acting, no. But she did act. I was really worried when she was cast in Six Flying Dragons, but in the epic saga she did splendidly. Not annoying at all. Fit into her role and, yes, worked hard. Many of you might not see what I see, for better or worse. That’s the beauty of being different!